The way things were
by DaxapherMatthews
Summary: AU Hemoswap: Living on Beforus-like Alternia, Her Motherly Dolorosa and her descendant Kanaya watch over the rest of the Troll-kind in a coddling way. But when Sollux is forced into scripting Sgrub by nightmares that have plagued him, the Troll Kids are forced into a situation that threatens the continued existence of their species and their core ideals.
1. Red Terezi

Author's Note or Foreword or something…

Alternate Universe with Blood Swapping

Candy Red: Terezi Pyrope

Burgundy: Tavros Nitram

Umber/Bronze: Equius Zahhak

Ochre/Yellow: Gamzee Makara

Olive: Vriska Serket

Jade: Karkat Vantas

Teal/Aqua: Eridan Ampora

Cerulean: Aradia Megido

Indigo: Feferi Peixes

Purple: Nepeta Leijon

Violet: Sollux Captor

Fuchsia: Kanaya Maryam

So you lot and myself are not lost on who has what blood.

* * *

Chapter 1:

As the Alternian sky began to shower down meteors, Terezi stared up to see her hive about to be impacted. Where did everything go so poorly? What was causing certain doom to be faced? Why was the author asking you this despite you clearly knowing where I was going with this?

Going back a few days before the apocalyptic event, six sweep old Terezi Pyrope was gleefully organizing her chalk collection. She had received a bunch of new colors, and delicious red, from her matesprit, but he will never tell, earlier that day. As a mutant, her blood was not on the Hemospectrum. While this wasn't a terribly dangerous thing, she knew how the system worked. Those with lowblood were taken care of and coddled by higher blood castes. She didn't think she could stand this treatment! Disguising herself as an Orange Blood, she could barely tolerate the treatment at THAT level. Suffice to say, Her Motherly Dolorosa wasn't a bad leader. She just probably cared for her people more than necessary.

Her husktop messaged her while she was still organizing her chalk and, looking over, she grinned noticing who was trolling her. Hopping over to the husktop, she spun in her chair a bit before responding.

") (-EY! T-EREZI! Are you t) (ere? I need to tell you something, it's R-EEL Important!"

"Y4H Y4H 1M H3R3. WH4TS UP P31X3S?"

"O) ( my GLUB! IT'S AMAZING! Kanaya is getting all our fronds toget) (er for a big game! I'm so nervous I can't stop smiling! 8:D"

"4 G4M3? DO YOU KNOW WH4T K1ND OF GAM3?"

"No, sorry, s) (e didn't say. Actually, s) (e said it was made by Sollux." She put a little heart at the end of her sentence.

"BL3H, 1 C4N'T B3L13V3 F1SH F4C3 1S YOUR M4T3SPR1T3."

"T) (at's not nice. 8:( SOLLUX IS SO CUT-E!"

"YOU 4ND YOUR F1SH…W3LL K33P M3 POST3D WH3N 1T ST4RTS."

"Sea you soon Terezi!"

Terezi believed Feferi to be a good kid. She just wished she had better taste in men. Her addiction to fish was unhealthy and she felt if Sollux wasn't a sea-dweller that Feferi wouldn't care too much about him, which would be perfect. While the thought of matesprits were on her mind, Terezi supposed she could shirk her organizing a little longer to bug 'hers'.

"H3Y K4RKL3S, WH4TS UP?"

"NOWS NOT A GOOD TIME TEREZI."

"W3LL HOW RUD3."

"NO, DON'T PULL THAT. YOU KNOW I DON'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!"

"H3H3H3, 1 KNOW. 1 JUST LOV3 M3SS1NG W1TH YA SOM3T1M3S. SO WHY C4NT YOU T4LK?"

"I'M TRYING TO HELP OUT SOMEONE'S LUSUS. I HAVE TO MAKE SURE IT'S ALRIGHT. I DON'T NEED IT DYING ON ME."

"K4RK4T, WH4T H4PP3N3D TO YOUR LUSUS W4SN'T YOUR F4ULT…"

"LIKE HELL IT WASN'T! I FUCKED UP! I KILLED HER! I WON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN, EVER!"

As Karkat ceased trolling Terezi, she slumped in her seat. Back when Karkat was just three sweeps, his lusus was lying in his lawn ring dead. Apparently another lusus with some savage disorder had come by and killed her. Karkat blamed himself for not being there when it happened to protect his 'mother'. It was really a sad story as time moved on, because Karkat didn't. She decided to go back to organizing her chalk collection for the time being, wondering what this game Feferi mentioned was.


	2. Fuchsia Daughter and Violet 2on

Chapter 2:

Sollux's eye twitched in frustration. Everything was ready for the game. Kanaya was sending the message out to their group. But he was still very frustrated. The coding of the game had left him without sleep for a while now. He couldn't have stopped working on the game even if he wanted to. When he slept, his dreams were plagued by haunting visions of darkness and death accompanied by voices that told him to make the game.

"Sollux I Hope You Are Feeling We-"

"GOG DAMN IIT WOMAN! CAN'T A GUY GET 2OME PRIIVACY?" Sollux's face turned completely violet and he felt extremely stupid once he understood Kanaya just swam in.

"…I Will Pretend That Did Not Happen. I Also May Assume That Is A No Too My Question."

"II uh…" Kanaya held a finger up to silence him.

"Just, Let Me Talk." Sollux nodded. "Now I Have Sent Out The Last Invitation To This Game Of Yours And I Am Finding Myself Having Second Thoughts About The Whole Concept. It Seems Off To Me. It Is Not Even A Traditional FLARPing Game."

"KN, ii know iit'2 2trange, but you have two tru2t me on thii2. iit'2 ab2olutely iimportant that we play thii2 game."

"Very Well, I Suppose I Will Trust You Against My Better Judgment. But If Something Happens I Will Be Very Cross With Both You And Myself."

Sollux nodded. "You won't regret thii2 KN, ii promii2e. Have faiith iin your moiiraiil."

Have faith in your moirail. Kanaya was too used to those words. It seemed Sollux passed that phrase out like sugar treats. She was hesitant about it, but merely nodded to Sollux and left.

"I Will Be Off To Visit Terezi. I Promised Her I Would Make A Suitable FLARPing Costume That Complimented Her More Than Her Old One."

Sollux didn't bother to mention that Terezi had not asked Kanaya to do this, but rather caved in when Kanaya kept insisting for weeks to do this for her. He simply waved goodbye and went back to pointless brooding.

As Kanaya swam for the surface, she couldn't help but wonder about what made this game so important. Though not healthy for moirails to do often, she humored Sollux every now and then. She assumed it was one of those moments when Sollux felt lonely and demanded his friends' company. She had no idea what trials truly lay ahead.


	3. Hoofing It

Chapter 3:

"uH, eQUIUS, aRE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS," Burgundy Blooded Tavros struggled to keep up with Equius as he STRONG maneuvered through the grassy knolls of Alternia's Great Plains.

"I assure you, Tavros, that I am 100% certain of my plan. We will not fall victim to a mishap." Tavros wasn't quite sure he believed Equius, but he followed him on anyway. Upon the arrival to their destination, Equius crouched behind a mound of grass, followed by Tavros who tried his best to not have his horns stick out.

"eQUIUS, rEMIND ME AGAIN WHAT THE PLAN WAS," The Umber Blood sighed and looked at Tavros with slight irritation.

"As I have said before, we have come to witness an e%quisite opportunity that occurs once every 12th Bilunar Perigee of the 3rd Dark Season's Equino%. The Great Migration of the Hoofbeasts. I am as happy as a wriggler graced by the Dolorosa's presence."

"aND, uH, tHE TOWELS," Equius snatches a towel from the pile which Tavros had been carrying and wiped his face.

"My perspiration problems…please, do not insult my condition." It was at that moment the ground began to rumble. Equius smiled and threw down his soaked towel in exchange for another as he eagerly watched the horizon for the migrating Hoofbeasts. Tavros just tried to be brave.

In the distance, a cloud of dust began to kick up as what appeared to be thousands of stampeding Hoofbeasts charging full speed. At this moment Equius turned to Tavros, a disturbing smile on his face.

"Remember how I said I was 100% certain this plan would leave us unharmed?" Tavros' eye shrank down. "I may have been wrong." Equius stood and picked up Tavros, breaking into a STRONG Sprint as the mass of Hoofbeasts soon began stampeding directly towards them.

"eQUIUS THEY'RE GAINING!" Tavros shouted over the roar of the hoofs. Equius didn't answer and just kept charging forward. He actually was enjoying this situation a bit. He was running with the Hoofbeasts. "oH MY GOG, aRE YOU ENJOYING THIS?"

"I have no comment low b100d."


	4. Vi0lent bl00d

Aradia peered out her broken hive window and stared at the wreckage below. Her temper got the best of her again as she threw yet another perfectly good training dummy into the streets below. At least no one was around to get hit this time. You hate being a Blue Blood if only because it increases susceptibility to violent outbursts. Punching things tends to cool you off, but after your recent chat with the Ampora kid you probably should have bolted down the target.

"times like this i wish i had a m0irail…" She muttered to herself a bit before equipping some boxing gloves. So long as she was "working out" she didn't want to punch something that would break her wrists. It wasn't much later that her husk top started alerting her to someone wanting her attention.

"HeY ThErE MoThEr fUcKeR, wHaT SeEmS To bE ThE PrObLeM?" Oh joy, Gamzee…

"what makes y0u think i have a pr0blem makara?"

"WeLl tHe fAcT ThAt i cAn hEaR YoU OvEr tHe sOpOr"

"…"

"Aw dOn'T Be lIkE ThAt"

"makara, I've had en0ugh l0w bl00d shit f0r t0day…"

"AlRiGhT, A BrO CaN TaKe a hInT, JuSt hOpIn fOr a mIrIcAlE I GuEsS"

"…y0u already kn0w what the pr0blem is d0n't y0u?"

"DoN't lEt aMpOrA GeT To yOu, hE JuSt wAnTs tHe aTtEnTiOn"

A small bing noise catches Aradia's attention and she looked to see a file sent to her Husk Top.

"GoT It fRoM SoLlUx a fEw mInUtEs aGo, sAiD It wAs uRgEnT To pAsS ThEm oUt aS FaSt aS MoThEr fUcKiN PoSsIbLe"

Gamzee logged off and left Aradia to her own design. She didn't know if Gamzee would make a good Moirail or Kismesis, but either way she felt frustrated still and punched the closest dummy next to her.


	5. Smells like Auspistice

"Hand it over Eridork!"

"f-fuck you v-vris, I f-found it f-first!"

Once again, the Kismesis of Vriska Serket and Eridan Ampora was blooming. It was also, once again, on Karkat's lawn ring.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOG WILL YOU TWO STOP IT! THIS IS THE THIRD FUCKING NIGHT IN A ROW!" Ducking out his hive window, Karkat called down to the Kismes-couple, who in turn looked dumbly up at him.

"Shut up Vantas! This is 8etween me and Frosty!" Vriska took the moment to trip Eridan up and take him to the ground. Swiping the precious object, which held no value other than keeping it out of the other's hands, she made a mad dash to her own hive.

"v-vris you get back her!" Eridan picked himself up and began charging after her.

"…WHY AM I FRIENDS WITH THOSE TWO?" Ducking back inside, Karkat checked on the progress of the game download. It was nearing completion, thankfully, and he couldn't wait to get this thing over with. Sollux was always…to put it lightly, insane. He didn't understand why they were even playing this game in the first place other than "Because Sollux Asked Us Too.", quote Maryam. In the mean time he decided to call up someone, as he was bored out of his think-pan.

"TEREZI, ARE YOU THERE?"

"OH H3Y K4RK4T, 1'M 4 B1T BUSY R1GHT NOW 4CTU4LLY."

"DOING WHAT?"

"K4N4Y4 W4NT3D TO M4K3 4 FL4RP1NG OUTF1T FOR M3…"

"OH, SORRY TO HER THAT."

"1T WOULDN'T B3 4N 1SSU3 1F 1 D1DN'T H4V3 TO ST4ND ST1LL FOR HOURS ON 3ND."

"SO I GUESS YOU'RE ON A BREAK THEN."

"1 M4N4G3D TO CONV1NC3 H3R TH4T 4 SN4CK W4S IN ORD3R."

"WELL, I GUESS YOU CAN'T TALK LONG THEN."

"W3'LL C4TCH UP SOON 3NOUGH K4RKL3S!"

Karkat wasn't sure whether he hated that nickname or not, but damned if anyone but Terezi called him that.

"SHOOT, 1 GU3SS BR34K 1S OV3R. BY3 K4RK4T."

He furrowed his brow as she logged off. He knew it was painfully obvious how much he liked her, but he could never seem to say the actual words. His thoughts were interrupted though by a large crashing noise in front of his hive. "OH WHAT NOW?"

He peered out to see Vriska and Eridan had returned, this time with their Strife Weapons. Eridan fired off Ahab's crosshairs repeatedly, missing Vriska as she rolled her Fluorite Octet, causing random explosions to occur around his hive.

"HAVE YOU TWO LOST YOUR THINK-PANS!?" Karkat's shouting distracted the strifing pair and both were hit with the other's attacks. Both parties lay unconscious as Karkat restrained himself from beating his head against the wall. This was going to be a long night.


End file.
